Between Rebels

Chapter 5

5

Arri led me back the way we’d come until we stood in front of thick doors, the metal less shiny than that of the walls. He held a hand to a scanner to our right and the doors opened. f**k. I wasn’t going to get in here by myself. My only chance to alert someone from the bridge would be with one of the Athions there. Which would mean pain. Defeat. Slavery.

My plans crumbled into dust. I’d have to find another way to escape. The pods were out, as was sneaking onto the bridge to send out an SOS call. But one thing was for sure; I wouldn’t let them turn me into their s*x slave, no matter whether they called it being their wife. I’d rather die, just like Tonya. If it came to it, I’d kill myself and hopefully everyone on this ship along with me. Those men deserved it. They weren’t going to hurt any other women.

The doors slid open, revealing a large, spacious room with a massive window giving me a direct view of space. The darkness of it called to me, drawing me in. There was nothing out there. If I wanted to get out of this situation, I’d have to help myself. I’d have to fight.

I stepped forward, taking in everything, committing the room to memory. A captain’s chair was right in front of me, consoles with lots of blinking lights all around it. More chairs at tables full of screens and controls I couldn’t make much sense of were dotted around the front of the room.

Lines drew across the window. It wasn’t just a window to the outside, it was also a screen.

I pointed at a blinking green dot. “Is that us?”

Arri nodded. “Yes. Nobody else around. We’re taking the longer route, away from the main shipping lanes.”

Double f**k. We were alone in this part of space. If there were other ships nearby, they didn’t show up on the screen.

“Are there any planets close?” I asked innocently. “It’s strange to only see these few stars.”

“A few, none of them inhabited. There are only two major planets between Earth and Athion, but we’re not going to stop at either one. Their women aren’t compatible with us, so they’re of little interest besides some trading. But we have enough fuel and supplies to last us all the way home.”

Pity. Stopping on a planet would have been a great chance to get away. Anything would be better than being trapped here with these two monsters.

"Where did you learn to pilot a spaceship?" I asked Arri, trying to distract him while I was cataloguing everything I could see.

"I was born on one, actually." He sat down on the captain's chair, his expression turning somewhat peaceful. "My brother was born on Athion, but just after his birth, my father was assigned a position on a freight ship and he didn't want to leave his family behind, so they moved onto the ship and we didn't leave until I was thirteen. I knew all the basic controls when I was five. I was allowed to pilot the ship when I was eight. Laki was always more interested in the engines, so he got trained in that, while I spent most of my time on the bridge." He looked at me, his lips curving into a smile. "It will be good to have some company here. It gets boring."

And just like that, I was reminded that he was the enemy. His story of growing up on a spaceship had been interesting, but I couldn't let him lull me into a false sense of security by showing me his human side. Athion side. Whatever. He was a murderer, a monster, and I needed to get away.

"So I assume you know what every single button here does?" I asked innocently.

"Obviously. I could pilot this ship with my eyes blindfolded."

He pushed his chest out, all macho and testosterone.

I pursed my lips. "I doubt that."

"I'd give you a demonstration, but I don't trust you enough to close my eyes."

I gave him an innocent smile. "Trust is important in a relationship. If we're going to be husband and wife, we need to trust each other. This would be an excellent chance to prove that you're serious about making this work. I promise I won't run out of the room."

And I wasn't lying. I'd spotted a screen to my right which suspiciously looked like a way to communicate. There was a keyboard, but the letters didn't make any sense to me. Probably the Athion alphabet. They spoke excellent English, but of course they had their own language.

If I could somehow figure out what the distress button was... there had to be one, right? In an emergency, the crew wouldn't have time to type a long message.

A big red button would have been lovely, but no such luck. There was a bright blue one however, with a symbol on it that I didn't recognise. It could have been anything, but since it was next to the screen with the text that looked like a messaging system, I had to try. This may be my only chance before the 'wedding'.

"You promise?" Arri asked sceptically.

I nodded, giving him my most winning smile. "I promise, I won't run. I just want to see if you can really do what you say." I let my eyes flick to his crotch. "You could be lying about other things too, if you get what I mean."

His eyes narrowed, but then he relaxed. "Alright, little poomii. You shall have your demonstration. At the moment, we're on autopilot, so let me just switch that off...

He pushed some buttons on the side of his chair and a kind of table shot out, giving Arri access to more controls. Handy. Especially because with this on his lap, it would take him longer to get up and catch me.

A small shiver went through the ship and I instinctively grabbed the back of one of the chairs. Just as luck would have it, it was the chair in front of the communications panel. I slipped onto the chair without Arri giving any sign that he was aware of what I was doing. I swivelled around to watch him.

"That's the autopilot disabled." He touched his earpiece. "Brother, it might get a little bumpy. I'm showing our wife what this ship can do."

"Should I put on a seat belt?" I asked, hoping me showing interest and enthusiasm would keep him distracted.

Arri laughed. "There are no seat belts here. That's an entirely human extravagance. If this ship crashes, we all die. There's no surviving in space without a ship to keep you safe."

That didn't really make sense - crashing wasn't exactly the only thing that could happen - but I kept my mouth shut.

"Now I'm going to close my eyes and I'll take her for a ride." He gave me a heavy stare. "If you run, I will f**k you so hard that you won't be able to walk for a week. Understood?"

I lowered my gaze and nodded.

"Good. Don't disappoint me."

Finally, he closed his eyes. Thank goodness. I watched him a little longer, making sure that he didn't peek, but he did seem to have a strange sense of honour that prevented him from cheating.

"I'll start with accelerating," Arri announced. "Hold tight, little poomii."

I turned to the front and leaned my back against the chair, ready for whatever was to happen.

The ship started humming and an invisible force pressed me into the cushioned backrest. The blackness outside didn't change, but it was clear that the ship was going faster than it had before.

The pressure on my body increased until breathing was getting uncomfortable.

"We don't usually accelerate this much," Arri explained, his voice slightly strained. "Now you know why. It's better for both ship and crew to keep a steady pace."

"Can you do an emergency stop from this speed?" I asked, my eyes on the green dot. The only way I'd be able to stay alive after what I was planning, was them believing that it had been an accident.

"I could, but I won't do that."

"Because you've got your eyes closed?" I taunted.

Arri chuckled. "Because it will hurt you. But if you insist..."

He let his voice trail off before the sound of him hitting a button with a lot of force filled the bridge.

I was thrown forward onto the control table, my head bursting with pain. Tears sprang to my eyes but I couldn't get distracted. I reached for the blue button, right in front of me, and pressed it as hard as I could.

A blaring siren assaulted my ears, adding to the pain that was steadily increasing. f**k. I'd hoped the button wouldn't set off any alarms. At least I had guessed correctly that it was an important one.

"What have you-" Arri started but was interrupted when a new voice came through speakers, a male talking in a language I didn't understand.

This was my chance. My only one.

"Help!" I shouted as loud as I could, hoping that he could hear me. Arri cursed behind me, but he wasn't close enough to stop me. "I've been kidnapped. I'm a human from Planet Earth and I've been taken by two Athions. I don't know where we are but they're taking me to a moon near Athion. They're planning to-"

Something hard hit my head and pain was all I could feel.